Bob Abbott

I have a collection of about 250 old cameras,picked up along my life and wondered if selling per item or as a collection??? Thanks

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

You will get much more out of the collection by selling the items individually. As a Lot people would be hesitant to put a lot of money into it.

LWW Loc: Banana Republic of America

Quite true but also a lot more effort.

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Indeed. If you have the time, the general rule in film collectibles is that you will yield as much as twice the value by selling individually. Perhaps the best plan is to try selling the high value items individually, then try the rest as a batch, but with a reserve.

Andy

DNW

Bipod

In most cases, matched sets (body, lens, manual, accessories--whatever you have)
sell for more than the total of the pieces alone. (General rule: don't break sets.)

An exception is when you have hard to find parts and accesories that fit some
common or valauble camera, but you don't have the body or it's not in good
condition or not desirable for some reason.

Collections of unrelated items seldom fetch much--they are assumed to be
leftover dreck that didn't sell.

Ready cases if in good condition add value (and can be sold even if you don't
have the body they fit). Camera bags do not add value unless they
were made by the camera manufactuer and came with the camera.

The better you photograph the items and the more accurately you describe what
it is and the model number,, the more you will get for them and the fewer questions
you will be pestered with. If a camera was made in Japan, Germany (or elsewhere
in Europe) or the USA mention that; if it was made anywhere else, don't.

The description line is particularly important. Some cameras have more than
one model name --- mention all of them. Many camera companies changed their
name at some point (Asahi Pentax ==> Pentax, Minolta ==> Konica Minolta, etc.).
Try to use the right name for the year the camera was made. If it's an SLR,
say "SLR". If its a rangefinder, say "rangefinder".

Time and effort selling translate into money. The worst mistake in selling
anything is to be in in a hurry.

You might like to "test the water" by selling one not particularly valuable
item to see how it goes. That gives you an opportunity adjust how you
sell the next lot.

It's difficult to predict demand or set values. Price guides are not very reliable.
because it's hard to assess condition of cameras. Sometimes you have to wait
for the right buyer to come along--then you get your asking price. It helps to know
how popular a certain class of cameas is.

Rangefinders with interchangable lenses are quite desirable and good ones fetch
relatively high prices. Even some fixed-lens rangefinders are popular.

Set a reserve on anything valauble. If you want to specify a "buy it now" price,
make sure it's at the high end of what you think the item migh fetch. "Buy it now"
buyers seem to be a different group than auction buyers--they are people in a hurry
who are willing to pay more.

It's can be difficult to sell something on a site at which one doesn't have a track record
as a seller or hasn't sold anything recently. That's another reason to start off small.

Good luck!

traderjohn Loc: New York City

Time is money. I would sell the whole collection anyone who had an interest in them some wholesaler or something like that. This way you are out from under and you have some $$$ in your pocket. They may have a value to you who knows how many others share your enthusiasm? Have you ever driven around and see all these rusty junk cars on people property. I'll bet they think these cars are all worth money.

traderjohn Loc: New York City

That option would leave you with how many cameras???

Low Budget Dave

Exactly right. If you have ten cameras that are worth between $0 and $35 each, and you find someone who will give you $35 for the whole set, then sell them all.

Not only will this save you ten hours of work, but it will make a hobbyist very happy, who will then put hundreds of hours of work into fixing up the cameras, playing with them, telling his friends about the great deal he got, and ultimately selling them for $36.

Quinn 4

What Bipod wrote is the best way to go, yes it going to take some time to sell everything. You not going to get back your full money value. But you could to well with top band name cameras models. Any thing that is broken or not working right to the trash can. Good Luck.

suntouched Loc: Sierra Vista AZ

That would be a LOT of work to sell that many cameras separately and post each one with good photographs and descriptions and then tracking responses. Makes me really tired thinking of that :) But hey some people don't mind and it could become a hobby in itself.
Good luck whatever you choose to do.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

This is exactly how King Grant started KEH...

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

To me a factor to consider would be the cameras you want to sell. If you have 250 cameras and they are Leica, Hasselblad, large format view cameras, very top of the line Nikon and Canon or very rare early cameras then I would have them appraised and sell individually. But if instead the cameras are beat up, well used Brownies, box cameras or inexpensive film cameras then I would put an ad on Craigslist or a local Shopper newspaper and have someone make an offer.

Recently at a local camera store a woman brought in a box of old cameras to sell. The manager, a friend, looked at the cameras and offered her $50.00 which she took. From just a brief glance there was about five cameras of the Pentax K1000 type. Good cameras for someone IF they worked but not pricey.

Dennis

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Here's another suggestion:

If you're not really sure what you have, lay out all the gear in relatively small groups of 10-20 items at a time, and post photos here.

You're sure to get both some help and some interest. I can't imagine any hogs trying to take advantage of you, but having a variety of opinions might help break the lot down into items or sets (as Bipod suggested - these are often the most valuable) that could form a reasonable base for estimating.

Andy

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

The best way to sell depends a lot on what is in that collection. If it is like most collections, there are probably a few "gems" and then a bunch of ordinary items. If it were me, I'd look at pulling the gems out and selling them individually, then selling the rest as a lot. This can maximize the amount of money you will receive and at the same time minimize the amount of work that you will have to do. You might not get a lot from the leftovers, but you may more than make up for it by what you can get for the nicest items. In fact, you might end up donating the leftovers to a local technical school which might like to have them for their students to learn about how the items are constructed or even to practice repair techniques.